


A Piece of the Problem

by ughdotcom



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Don't copy to another site, F/M, M/M, Other, Racism, Social Commentary
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:28:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28265412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ughdotcom/pseuds/ughdotcom
Summary: I wrote this for my World History final project - I had to review everything we learned this semester about Eurocentrism and the dominant narrative. Yes, I turned in Dr Who fanfiction. I was allowed.What will the Doctor do when he finds a man spilling racist trash?
Relationships: Tenth Doctor/Jack Harkness/Rose Tyler, The Doctor/Jack Harkness/Rose Tyler
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	A Piece of the Problem

**Author's Note:**

> Yes Ms AW this is my work. Please don't read the edited version of this or any of my other fics. I can give you other bots of my writing if you want, just please don't read anything you don't have express permission to read.
> 
> For the readers: to clarify, I am white and American. I can't write a completely accurate commentary on racism and eurocentrism because of this. Please shoot me a comment if I do something wrong.

It was a sunny day in London. London wasn’t usually sunny, and they doubted there would be any more alien attacks in the same week, so the Doctor, Rose, and Jack decided to go for a walk. They strolled down the street, hands clasped in hands, when they saw a man.

He looked like a normal man, albeit a rude man. But what made the Doctor upset was that he was yelling about something the Doctor didn’t like to hear.

“What do you  _ mean _ Europeans didn’t invent everything?” the man yelled at a teenager, a kid about 16 who had confronted him and was now recoiling back. “Give me one example.”

“And who are you?” the Doctor asked, sauntering into the man’s space, giving a smile and a wink to the kid before inclining his head in a ‘go, get out of here’ motion.

“Paul Love,” Paul Love said, like it was anything to be proud of, “And you, good sir?”

“Not good, technically not a sir. And I’m the Doctor.” he stuck out his hand for Paul to shake, which the man did reluctantly.

“Doctor who?”

“Just the Doctor is all. Love. Fun last name. And these,” he beckoned forward Jack and Rose, “Are my companions. Rose Tyler and Jack Harkness.”

“Hi,” Rose said coolly, looking over at the Doctor with a burning look in her eyes. Jack didn’t bother to introduce himself, which almost made the Doctor laugh. So that’s what it took to stop him.

“And what do you want with me?”

“Well, you see, you were being a bit, well more than a bit, bigoted there, and I don’t really like that. Because I  _ know _ that what you were saying is wrong. Have you ever heard of a dominant narrative, Paul Love? It’s the narrative that’s commonly presented to the public, through a mix of genuine misinformation and false belief. And the narrative that only Europe or only White people have done anything good, ever, is very wrong. It’s called Eurocentrism.”

“Doctor.” Rose said calmly, laying a hand on the man’s arm. “You’re rambling.”

“Is that such a bad thing?”

“I think he zoned out after the first sentence,” Jack said, waving a hand in front of Paul’s face, which made the already annoyed man more annoyed.

“Are you trying to tell me I’m wrong?” he demanded.

“Yes! You got it!” the Doctor cheered.

“I’m not wrong!”

“Oh, this going to take a bit more isn’t it?” the Doctor groaned, scrunching his eyebrows together. “Oh well, no way around it. Jack, Rose, manhandle him please. We’re going to take him to the TARDIS. Time and Relative Dimension in Space.” he explained to Paul, as if that made any sense at all.

“Manhandle him yourself.” Jack retorted, already moving to grab the man.

“We’re going to take a White Supremacist into the TARDIS?” Rose objected. “Worst idea of the millenia. Also, Martha would kill you, and I would watch.”

“If Martha was going to kill me, she would have killed me already.” the Doctor objected. “And hopefully this works. If it doesn’t you can take me to Jackie. Deal?”

“You can’t just be scared of my Mum and think it works as collateral.”

“Oh, but it absolutely does. Help Jack before he takes racism off his list of no flyers.”

“I’m upset that you think so poorly of me, Doctor!” Jack called from where he was trying to control Paul. “Also, does this count as kidnapping? Because I don’t want to get in trouble with the law.”

“Aren’t you already in trouble with the law?” Rose asked, helping him secure Paul’s hands so the man wouldn’t fight.

“Yeah, the time cops, not actual cops. I mean, I hate them all the same, but time cops are somehow easier to evade.”

“Yeah, ‘cause you’ve got me and the Doctor. We could get you out of a regular prison cell too.” they forced Paul to walk with them over to the blue police box, the Doctor’s TARDIS, which luckily wasn’t too far away.

“Not if you’re stuck in there with me.”

“Jack Harkness! It’s like you haven’t seen me pick a lock before!”

“Who’s picking locks?” the Doctor said, coming up behind them. “No one’s picking locks, especially not in front of him! Do you want to get arrested?”

“Sorry, Doc.” Jack said, shoving Paul into the TARDIS.

“Yeah, sorry.” Rose snorted, knowing full well that she was the only one who legally existed in the 21st century.

“It’s-” Paul said. Jack patted him on the back.

“Bigger on the inside, yeah we know.”

“So!” the Doctor crowed once they were all safe inside the TARDIS. “Where to first? Where will convince this man that the world isn’t his white man paradise?” he grinned and immediately started fussing with the control panels.

“Technically you’re a white man.” Rose pointed out.

“This time around. So, let’s see. Hunter-gatherer times might be a good start, show him that his precious agricultural civilization isn’t so necessary .” the Doctor flipped a switch and slammed his hand down on a button. “Jack, darling, can you press that button.” Jack moved to press a green flashing button. “Not that one! The blue one!” Jack pressed the blue button, and the TARDIS whooshed up into flight. “Perfect! Thank you!”

“Do I get a kiss for it?” Jack said, draping himself over the railing and pouting.

“Not yet.” the Doctor scolded. “Later.”

“Aw, c’mere, baby.” Rose laughed, kissing him softly. “You know he doesn’t mean it.”

“Of course, I mean it. I said ‘later’, didn’t I? Now, into the past!” the Doctor shoved open the doors of the TARDIS, showing off the outside. He stopped them and sprayed them with a spray bottle before letting them out of the TARDIS. It was green and lush, plants and animals everywhere. The Doctor grabbed a handful of berries from a bush and tossed a few into his mouth. “Not poisonous.” he said, offering his hand to Rose, who had followed him out, and Jack, who was keeping a grip on Paul to keep the man near them.

“Are they poisonous to  _ humans _ ?” Rose clarified.

“Nope!” Rose grabbed a few, handing some to Jack and tossing them into her mouth.

“Pretty good.” she admitted.

“This place is a forager paradise!” the Doctor declared, spinning around. “And they’ve got to be around here somewhere.” he scanned the forest, like they would pop up.

“You sure you aren’t a few years off, Doc?”

“Don’t call me Doc. And yes, I’m sure. I think. It’s not like they’re just hiding in the bushes waiting for us.”

“Should we change? I mean, these aren’t exactly caveman clothes.” Rose asked, looking down at her jeans and t-shirt, then over at Jack’s military coat, the Doctor’s suit, and Paul’s gross old cishet white man clothes.

“Let’s not.” Jack said, slipping his hand that wasn’t controlling Paul into her’s.

“Oh, don’t worry. You don’t exactly fit in, but it doesn’t mean you should be wearing furs. They knew how to make thread and string.”

The Doctor was already moving forwards, shoving branches and bushes away. They followed him as he moved through the dense forest. Finally they reached the edge of a clearing, and he stopped them. A band of foragers were gathered in the middle.

“Why can I understand them?” Paul hissed, luckily understanding the importance of having to be quiet.

“TARDIS translation software.” Rose whispered back. “Translates all languages telepathically.”

“That  _ machine _ can see into my head?”

“Yeah, so don’t think about anything too bad.” Rose said, even though the TARDIS couldn’t exactly communicate what it saw.

The community in the clearing looked happy. A group of women sat in the corner, gossiping about other members of the tribe while weaving string. A man crouched over fire, cooking some sort of meat. Some boys, maybe fifteen or sixteen, were carving knives out of stone. A woman was holding a crying baby, softly shushing it.

“Did you know that these are some of the healthiest people ever?” the Doctor explained, obviously excited. “That’s why I had to disinfect you. My bacteria shouldn’t hurt them, it’s not human, but yours, which would, is all gone.”

“How can they be healthy?” Paul protested. “They don’t even have medicine!”

“Yeah, but it’s not like they see a lot of other people, and they’re all collectively immunized because of how close they are to their band. Even the food they eat is healthier and more varied than the food you probably eat. You, as in Paul specifically. The TARDIS gives us food, and it’s varied.”

“It was live worms.” Rose corrected.

“Gagh is a  _ speciality _ . It also gave you grilled cheese.” the Doctor defended.

“I liked the gagh.” Jack said, and Rose gently shoved him with a groan.

“Stop sucking up. He’s already your datemate.”

“Could you please stop talking about worms?” Paul asked. “I don’t care about worms.”

“Yeah, well you don’t care about people either, as apparent by why you’re even here. And did you know, Hunter-gatherer societies were completely equal, as close to communism without a dictator that’s been seen in Earth’s history. I won’t say history, Devlan 9 is an amazing planet, great food, completely anarcho-communist set up.” the Doctor said, clapping him on the back. “Come on, back to the TARDIS. We’ve still got places to go.” he steered the group back to the TARDIS, occasionally slipping plants into his pockets. Jack dreaded to ask why.

“Rose, where to next?” the Doctor said, pointing at the girl.

“I didn’t go to university, I don’t know!”

“Please stop acting like that doesn’t make you smart, it’s annoying, you’re one of the smartest people I know, and you’re always next to me, who’s bloody brilliant. Jack?”

“The agricultural revolution?” Jack guessed. “The first cities?”

“Yes! Fantastic! Perfect.” the Doctor pressed a button, then another button, spun a crank, and finally flipped a switch.

The TARDIS stopped in the middle of a busy street, and the Doctor sprayed them again before letting them out.

“They’re all brown and black.” Paul said in surprise.

“This  _ is _ Africa, Paul.” the Doctor said, grinning. “Last time I was here I was sentenced to death by Hammurabi. Luckily we should be a century or so away from that, I don’t really fancy that happening again.”

“Uh, Doctor, we don’t exactly fit in.” Rose said, scanning over the locals, who were all staring at the odd people with odd clothes and odd skin and odd hair and an odd blue box.

“Isn’t that how we like it?” he said.

“You just said you were sentenced to death.” Jack pointed out.

“Yeah, but that was so long ago. Or, well, won’t happen for a bit. I don’t even look the same. Plus, what’s adventure without a little fun? You’re immortal anyways.”

“I’m not!” Rose protested.

“We’d both die for you even if we weren’t immortal.” the Doctor said. “So it balances out. And we aren’t spending long here. Just enough to see that civilization is very much  _ not white _ .”

“Aren’t you not human?” Paul asked. “Why do you care so much about this?”

They all stare at him for several seconds. “Rose, I give up. You can attack him. You can summon Martha and Donna and attack him.”

“Nope, we committed to bringing a racist into the TARDIS. He better learn things, or I’m handing you over to Mum.” Rose said, crossing her arms and tapping her foot.

“Thought that would work.” the Doctor said, dragging them all back into the TARDIS. “Okay, Paul, what a stupid name, I don’t mean that, it’s just a name, the reason I care is because I have morals and I know what’s right and wrong, and I know that you’re  _ wrong _ . Humans… the only species to be racist. It’s shocking. And mildly nauseating.”

“He just called all humans nauseating, and you don’t care!” Paul shrieked.

“He called racism nauseating. Like  _ you _ , and well, probably Rose.”

“Oi!”

“You live one of the most racist cultures, and you’re white. You’ve definitely got some in there that you don’t know about.”

“Fair. And what about you?”

“I’m from the 51st century, Rose. Although, probably.”

“You don’t have a problem with that?” Paul said, voice getting higher pitched.

“Listen, dude, if we had a problem with the Doctor insulting humans, we wouldn’t be travelling with him, let alone dating him.”

“He’s going to have another breakdown, Jack.” Rose said, eyeing the man. “We’ve revealed at least five things to upset him, this might be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.”

“We’re going to the Old World System!” the Doctor yelled.

“Okay!” Jack yelled back before turning back to Rose. “What things?”

“We’re time travelers, all his world views are wrong, we’ve committed crimes, we’d break out of prison if we had to, the Doctor’s an alien, you’re immortal, the Doctor’s immortal, we’re a polyamourus throuple.” Rose said, counting them off on her fingers.

“I don’t think the second thing counts, he’s still pretty racist so far.”

The TARDIS landed as he spoke, the engines whooshing. They were spritzed with the spray bottle once again, and stepped out into a bustling world.

The streets were filled with traders and merchants, all selling goods and making wagers. It looked almost like a modern market, with some marked differences in everything.

“The Old World System!” the Doctor said excitedly. “The biggest trading circuit, well, ever. It spans from India to the Muslim Empire to China to West Africa, and later a tiny bit to Europe. Not very much though, they don’t become a major player until later. Southernization, Paul, ever heard of it?” Paul shook his head mutely, looking around at the market. “No, you wouldn’t have. Southernization is the opposite of Westernization. It’s the theory that without the accomplishments of the south, the West never could have risen to power. And it’s true, the West really didn’t overtake the South and East until the eighteen hundreds.” he snatched a fruit from a table and tossed it into the air. “Really, almost everything  _ good _ was made now, before Europe took over. England has never done a good thing in it’s life.”

“Oi! Me!” Rose said.

“Well, except for you, of course. And Donna. And Martha. And Mickey, but he’s on thin ice. And Michael Sheen.”

“Michael Sheen is Welsh.” she pointed out.

“Well, that solves that.”

“Yeah, let’s stop talking about Michael Sheen, and maybe start explaining this better to the racist.”

“I have a name!” Paul protested, and Jack patted his shoulder.

“I know.”

“Yes, of course! So, the Old World System, started in India, and quickly spread to the Muslim Empire, China, and West Africa. Right now we’re in… the Muslim Empire. Paul, get that look off your face, there are more White terrorists than Muslim ones. If I catch you being Islamaphobic I’ll set all my friends on you, and my friends are scary.”

“We really are, and do you want to say that you got beat up and yelled at by a group of women?”

“About that,” Paul started, and Rose and Jack groaned. “Why are you so insistent that it was so great before Western civilization. They didn’t exactly fancy women much.”

“Neither did Europe.” Rose said. “Nowhere ‘fancied women much’. Our first female prime minister was forty years ago  _ and _ a racist, sexist, horrid piece of shit, whose grave is no better than a gender neutral bathroom.”

“The oppression of women began during farming!” the Doctor said. 

“Doctor.” Jack said, able to tell that he was about to go on a tangent.

“Anyway, once farming started, women started to be thought of as child bearers and nothing else. Before that it was a mainly matriarchal society, and in this segment I do mean women as in assigned female at birth, sorry Rose. So women became the child bearers and men became the farmers, and it continued like that. But here's the thing, Paul. Earth sucks when it comes to equality. Even these societies, and early societies, cared too much about class. Almost everywhere on this planet sucks when it comes to women. Queer people and people of color are despised almost everywhere here, and that’s Western influence, cultures before that were  _ fine _ with those things. And then you’re going to have the  _ Ood _ ! You’re going to meet a race out in space, take away their emotions, and make them live to serve you and you aren’t going to have any problems with it!”

“I had problems with it! Donna had problems with it!”

“Fine, for some reason, no one that isn’t amazing and kind and has a soul of pure gold,  _ are you happy, _ sees anything wrong with this because humans  _ love _ inequality. They love to come out top branch, and they don’t care about other people who don’t. And then there’s people like us! Who are lucky because hey! We aren’t people of color! But we aren’t lucky because hey! I’m an agender alien who’s greyromantic ace, and Rose is a trans pansexual girl, and Jack is omnisexual, and we’re  _ all _ polyamorus, and Jack and I are neurodivergent, and you’re lucky because you aren’t any of these things, and you can go on living life like it doesn’t affect you at all while making it worse for people.” he shoved them all back inside the TARDIS. “You think that everything is good, and that you’re right because you can just shoot down every little person who who tells you you’re wrong, and no one can stop you because you’re big, you're powerful, you’re white and straight and neurotypical and cis and abled. So you refuse to see it, and you’re lucky, because you  _ can _ refuse to see it. Everything about your life is so perfect you can refuse to see it. Others aren’t so lucky. I’ve seen men just like you hurt my friends, and think that they’re allowed to just because they fancy it, or because my friends are  _ different _ . So you had better get your act together, because I am not messing around.”

“You’re scaring him.” Jack said, gesturing at Paul, who had pressed himself as far back against the railings as he could.

“ _ Good _ ! I have seen enough inequality and hate for a lifetime, I don’t need to see more. There is a reason why the Daleks and Cybermen can only feel hate, and it isn’t for  _ fun _ .” the Doctor snarled, and Rose laid a hand on his arm.

“Listen, I hate this guy as much as you do, you know I do.” she said, rubbing his arm. “But you’re helping, okay? You’re helping him see that the world isn’t black and white, isn’t a perfect grey. So, instead of breaking down, teach him more. He needs to see that the world is so much better than his stupid dominant narrative, you said that, yeah? He’s a bad person, we know that, but you’re the Doctor. You show compassion to Daleks. So do it now, show him what he’s wrong about, and if he still continues to be racist, you can set us on him, and he’ll regret the day he was born. But don’t you  _ dare _ give up now.”

“Rose Tyler you are brilliant and I love you.” the Doctor said, kissing her hard.

“What about me!” Jack called out.

“I said later, you’ll get later.”

“I’m holding you to that, Doc!”

“Paul, Paul,  _ Paul _ .” the Doctor said, clapping his hand onto Paul’s shoulder. “Listen, there  _ are _ a lot of problems from this time, but they aren’t gone in your time. Most of them are even more prominent for you. Sexism is fading, but it’s still there! There’s a horrid class system, and rich people are still mainly in charge. And royalty? There’s still a monarchy, and monarchies are really quite problematic. All these started in your  _ beloved _ civilization that you pretend that only white people have. But out there? It’s a fully functioning world system that doesn’t need you. They cover almost all of Afroeurasia, and their innovations are  _ genius _ . Out there there’s probably a scholar that knows better than your precious Greeks, correcting away at their works, and those hunter-gatherers we saw? They had a better social structure than you could  _ dream _ about. They invented thread! Thread! They didn’t wear furs, and they were equal! Shared everything! Had amazing work weeks. I’ve never worked anywhere before, but I’ve heard that the average work week sucks.” he glanced over to Rose, who nodded.

“I worked in a shop. Work hours are torture.”

“Foragers were able to work more flexible hours at their jobs, which also took less time out of their days! Imagine the downtime! You just don’t know this because it’s not conducive to your dominant narrative. It’s your single story, a story you only hear one side of. There are so many other parts to it, but all you hear are the things that make sense to you.”

“Who do you think you are?”

“I’m the Doctor.” the Doctor said, slamming his hand down on the button. “And this is the truth. Name something you couldn’t live without, no electronics.”

“The sun.” Paul retorted.

“Oh, aren’t you clever.” the Doctor mocked. “Most discoveries in astronomy were made here,” he swung the TARDIS doors open, “In the Muslim Empire. Islamic scholars even corrected and contributed to the Greek’s work in astronomy. Rose, name something. Something you don’t think about, but that is crucial to your life.” he slammed the doors shut.

“I dunno. Books I guess.”

“Printing!” he flicked a switch and opened the door. “Invented in China! Love China, amazing art. Jack!” He shut the door again.

“Math?”

“Math! Excellent!” he pulled on a lever. “I love math.” he showed them out the door again before pulling it closed.. “General numbers, the ones we use today, and arithmetic, the whole concept of zero was invented here, in India.” he kicked at the console. “But,” he pushed open the doors. “Algebra? Calculus? Trigonometry? Here, in the Muslim Empire. And so much more.” he slammed the door shut.“The compass, gunpowder, Christianity, most medicine, cotton, sugar, cinnamon, porcelain, silk, suspension bridges, pepper, chess, lug sails, ceramic, multiple advances in Greek innovations and theories, fabric armor, better boats than the Europeans, sewage, irrigation!”

“No one caught any of that.” Jack admitted.

“Sorry about that. But all of those are inventions by people who  _ weren’t _ European, and there’s so many more! But sadly your planet is one of the  _ few _ that thrives on oppression, even in the future. So of course you don’t know this, but it dismantles everything you’ve built to hold up your white supremacy.”

“But, you’re lying!”

“Am I? Am I lying? Sure, I’m a liar, I’ve been a liar, but why would I lie about this? Give me a good reason.”

“You’re just a leftist that wants everyone to be like them.”

“What’s a leftist? Rose, what’s a leftist?”

“Political view that focuses around equality, pretty much. Much more complicated, but if you’re wondering, if you were human you would be one.”

“Yeah, I am, because people should all be equal. Is that a complicated statement? How do you even debate that? How is that  _ not _ the general consensus?”

“Humans suck.” Jack pointed out.

“You’re a human.” Rose responded. “I’m a human.”

“Humans as in humanity, Rose, I don’t hate myself. Or you.”

“Nice catch.” she gave him a judgemental look.

“Stop bickering, you two.” the Doctor scolded, before turning back to Paul. “It’s so commonplace for you humans to think they’re always right. It would take more to really educate you, wouldn’t it? You want to be right so badly that you don’t let others educate you. Humanity’s great failure. So here we go, to the library.” he grabbed Paul’s shoulder and steered him down the halls of the TARDIS to the library, where he shoved him into a chair, before starting to pull books off the shelf. “Here, and this, and that, and oh! This one.” he deposited a stack of books next to Paul. “Here you go.”

“Why are you giving me these?”

“Well, if you can’t believe your own eyes and ears, maybe you’ll believe these. Books on the Old World System, hunting and gathering, civilization. Not all of them are human, but you’re by the TARDIS, so it should all translate.”

“What authority do aliens have to write about humans?” Paul protested, and the Doctor scoffed.

“What authority do humans have to write about Dolphins? They’re both sentient.”

“They are?” Rose asked.

“Of course they are. Do your schools not teach this?”

“No.” She said, gobsmacked. “We’re taught that humans are the only sentient creatures. Or it’s at least implied.”

“Large oversight. Now! Paul! Get reading. We’re all ageing here. Well. No. You’re ageing here. Come on, it’s just books. Choose one and start.”

Paul pulled the first book off the pile and started reading.

“This is boring.” the Doctor said after a few minutes. “Reading always helps, but we’ve got evidence right outside that door, one trip away. He just can’t believe his eyes when he sees the truth.”

“Yeah, well, most humans can’t.” Jack said. “It’s not exactly their specialty. That’s how you get all your stunts called hoaxes.”

“I can’t exactly have the human race depend on me for everything. I’m not a policeman. I’m a traveller.”

“Good thing too.” Rose added. “I wouldn’t run off with a policeman.”

“None of us would, hopefully.” Jack said.

“Okay, I’m just bored. Paul! Do you see the truth now?”

“No! I won’t accept it.”

“Won’t. Will not. Because you’re stubborn. But the fun thing about humans is their little voice, the one in the back of their head. And that little voice knows full well that everything I’ve said is true. It trusts its ears and eyes, and it knows. It knows that you’re wrong. And I hope that little voice keeps you up at night telling you the truth. Okay, Rose, you can attack him.”

“This is conceding, Doctor. Home to Mum. Now, I know you. If anyone can fix him, it’s you.”

“I don’t need to be fixed!”

“Yeah you do.”

“But where is there left? I’ve told him everything I can think of.”

“The present, Doctor.” Jack said. “Rose’s present. Show him the truth of his present.”

“He doesn’t have enough compassion for that to be the thing that turns him! You need some of that to grasp  _ why _ things now are so bad.”

“He isn’t a Dalek. He isn’t a Cyberman. Somewhere in that shriveled little brain of his, he’s human.”

“Funny, coming from an American.” Paul snapped at him.

“Americans learned it from England.” the Doctor said, as Jack spoke.

“I’m from the Boeshane Peninsula, I’m not even from Earth.”

“ _ What _ ?” Paul said. “Then how come you have any business barging in and trying to correct me?”

“Because you’re a racist jerk.” Rose said, leaning forward. “And that isn’t confined to a time zone.”

“And where are you from? Mars?”

“No, I’m from Earth.”

“Look at that!” the Doctor said. “Racist even towards aliens! I knew they’d achieve it when they found out aliens exist, but already! Jack isn’t even non-human. He’s just from the future.”

“The future.”

“Yeah, Paul. The future. Now, to the present/future/past! Allons-y!” He rotated a crank, flipped a switch, pulled a lever, and spun a gauge. The TARDIS landed with a bang. “Slap bang in the middle of London, few years ago, perfect. Get all those past germs off you.” he dusted them with the spray bottle. “That’s better. The conquistadors defeated the Inca with smallpox, you know. Now, this is partly my timeline, so I’d better stay in the box, but if you hang back, Martha shouldn’t notice you.”

“Martha?”

“The reality of today. Even I can’t stop people from feeling it, not always.”

Rose and Jack grabbed onto Paul’s arms and pulled him outside the box, making sure he wouldn’t run away and mess up the timelines. Across the street they saw two familiar figures walking.

“I swear, Martha! I’m not making this up! Telling them to go to bed  _ worked _ !”

“I’m sure it did, Doctor.” Martha responded, obviously not believing him. “And that’s how you met Jack? He tried to con you, and he still became your boyfriend?”

“Well, it took more time than that.”

A man leaned over and started leering at Martha, who darted out her hand and grabbed the Doctor’s squeezing it tight. The man said something rude and highly sexual, and Martha moved closer to the Doctor. “No thank you.” she said. He spat a slur at her, and she pulled the Doctor along away from him.

“Is he gone?” she asked after a few seconds.

“Yeah. Why didn’t you tell him off? You’ve faced monsters scarier than that.” he responded.

“Well, usually they’re the only ones, or it’s life or death, yeah? He’s not the only one, and it’s only life or death sometimes. You fight back and the chances get higher.”

“They  _ what _ ?”

“Well, yeah. He has a knife and I’m screwed. A gun? Worse. It’s not exactly like I get the luxury of looking like you.”

“Oh. Racism. Humans are spectacularly odd.”

“What, other species don’t have racism?”

“Well, yeah, but normally it’s not as ingrained into your culture as it is with humans. You know how to act when a man is outwardly racist to you on the street, it’s just something you know, like your sums or how to tie your shoes.”

“Yeah, safety.”

“That shouldn’t be a necessary part of safety.”

“Yeah, well, welcome to Britain. God save the Queen and all that mess. You see, you’re lucky. Because even though you spend your time fighting dangerous aliens and risking your life, you come back to Britain and you're mostly safe. No one cares about who you are because you look shockingly normal, if not mildly insane. White man, tall, skinny, brunet. No one’s about to call you names or murder you, not unless they somehow find out you’re an alien. Me, I’m lucky to be in the 21st century.”

“That’s...wrong.”

“Yeah, well, at least there are people fighting to change it, and don’t you have proof it changes? That’s good.”

“Yeah.”

Paul watched from the sidelines, a gobsmacked look on his face.

“Whatcha thinking, Paul?” Jack asked.

“She was so casual about it.”

“Yeah, well, she has to be, or she’ll break down.” Rose said. “Not to act as if my problems are comparable to here, because comparing oppression is bad, but everytime men call me names and act like I’ve tricked them by being trans, I have to hold it in, pretend it’s fine. Can’t really trust any men, can I? Well, she can’t trust any white people really either. Shock we both went off with the Doctor.”

“But she’s not as much as a white person.”

Rose lunged forward and shoved Paul back against a telephone pole, pressing her forearm into his throat. “Say that again about my friend, I dare you. Try to diminish her worth when she is so much more than you. Her job shouldn’t matter to make her equal with you, but she’s a doctor, a real proper one. What more are you than a racist who stands on a street corner terrorizing people? Are you actually worth more than her? Because I know who I’d choose as bait and who I’d let fight besides me, and I sure don’t trust you that much.”

“I-”

“Oh don’t start on some bloody bad excuse where you whine and snivel. I. Don’t. Care. I’m not the Doctor, I don’t have inherent compassion in my heart. But no second chances, that’s something we share. And you have gotten more chances than you could possibly want, so now  _ I _ get to go off on you, and you can ask plenty of men through space and time and you’ll know I’m the second worst thing to happen to them.”

“What’s the first?”

“Oh, you’re lucky, because it’s the aliens, and you aren’t getting any of those today.”

“Technically-”

“Technically you’re a piece of rat shit, but you don’t hear me saying it. Now, you are bigoted and racist, and probably predjuduced in other ways. And we have taken you places that most people never see, and shown you the truth of the world, and shown you  _ proof _ that everything you believe is wrong. And yet here you are, still stubbornly hanging on to your beliefs. Name one thing that proves that you’re right. One thing.”

“I- I can’t.” he admitted.

“Good boy. You can’t. Because you aren’t. And now that we’ve given you proof you aren’t you have to deal with that. Come on, back to the TARDIS. We can’t fix you if you want to stay broken, but we’ve given you the parts. Let’s hope they’ll haunt you, Paul.” she managed to hurl his name like it was a slur itself, a taste of his own medicine.

“Rose, that was brilliant.” Jack said, pressing a quick kiss to her lips.

“Thank you, babe.”

“That’s still unnatural.”

“Some people are monogamous, but some people are polyamourus. It’s not ‘natural’ or ‘unnatural’ it just is. Jack can confirm, he’s from the future.” Rose said, tightening her nails into Paul’s skin.

“Confirmed.” Jack said, unlocking the TARDIS and shoving Paul inside. “He’s still a racist piece of crap, but Rose gave him a piece of her mind, so we should just drop him off, let him simmer, hope he learns. And then have Christmas dinner with Jackie.” he directed at the Doctor, who groaned.

“It’s summer.” Paul pointed out.

“For you.” Jack said. “We have a time machine. Should we drop him off two days late? Bit of a scare tactic?”

“Nah, he’ll tell the cops. Plus, we don’t want his wife to worry.”

“I don’t have a wife.” Paul admitted, and Rose laughed.

“Yeah, because you bloody  _ suck _ . Let’s take him home, then grab Martha and Donna for Christmas dinner.” Rose said.

“Right.” the Doctor said, pressing a button. The TARDIS shivered to a stop, and they shoved Paul out. “Take care, or well, don’t.”

“Bye. If I ever see you again that will be too soon. Also I’ll punch you if you haven’t changed.”

“Stop being violent. Bye, I hate you.”

“So!” the Doctor said, slamming the doors closed with a bang. “Christmas dinner. Next Christmas?”

“Yeah, technically makes sense with my age and all. Martha and Donna first.”

Rose grinned. “I’m going to ask my mum to slap you specifically, because now I have to clean out the TARDIS.”

“Yeah, Doc. Now we have to get rid of his essence.”

“Humans.” the Doctor said, slamming down on a button. “I’ll never understand you.”

“All your companions are human.” Rose pointed out.

“And us, your significant others.”

“Shut up.”


End file.
